You knew it was coming. The game recently got an "Adults Only" rating and with that, Nintendo and Sony have stated that they won't put out games with such a rating. Really Sony? Explain Pocket Pool for the PSP. So, Take-Two Productions have cancelled the previous release date of the game, July 10th, and will spend more time on editing the game for a better rating. The game has already been banned in the UK and Ireland, with some saying that even when Manhunt 2 gets a better rating, the game still won't be sold in the two countries. Interesting to note however, that while it may be illegal to sell the game in those countries, it won't be illegal for gamers to own it.

southpaw447

07-04-2007 01:54 AM

that sucks. I really liked the first manhunt. Hell, any game made by rockstar is bound to be good, but they have a tendency to push the envelope too far but thats what makes them great IMO. I think some countries that ban these games are idiots.
Most Game and Electronic stores card anyone and everyone who buys a Mature rated game. If countries are banning these games for the simple fact that they think it "gives people ideas" to go postal and shoot someone or re-enact something they saw in a video game than that's not the developers fault.

Also I find it kind of sick for parents who buy Mature rated video games like GTA for their prepubescent kids, and then we all have to suffer for some idiot who goes to school and shoots somebody

Josh3239

07-04-2007 01:59 AM

I refuse to believe that anyone commits violence because they saw it on a video game (despite what the media tries to pitch). People know right and wrong and people at the very least have reasonable knowledge of the law.

Its sort of like the Rosie O'Donnell spoon joke. Video games cause crime like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat. It just plain doesn't add up.

esv

07-04-2007 10:48 AM

awsome i love manhunt, cant wwait to play this game

T.B.

07-04-2007 11:30 AM

The first Manhunt game is probably one of the most violent games ever made. If you've ever played a Tenchu game, it's like a darker, more violent version. In the first Manhunt game, a madman has cameras everywhere and psychos stalk you. Kinda like a cross between Running Man and the SAW movies. You violently kill your opponents in stealthy ways, which are usually brutal and very visually real. If you beat a guy to death with a hammer, it looks and sounds pretty realistic, not comical like in the Grand Theft Auto games.

Games and movies are weird like that. They usually let you get away with splattering a vampire or a zombie or some other creature all over the screen, but put a human vs. a human and they get strict. George Romero, who did a series of zombie movies, often said the ratings board would let him keep in some pretty graphic scenes if he simply darkened the blood, or cut a violent scene by miliseconds.

Manhunt 2 was given a Mature rating and can still be released, but Sony and Nintendo said they would not release games with an "M" rating. But a game featuring nearly nude ladies for the PSP called "Pocket Pool" was released with an "M" rating. Sony America wouldn't allow porn to be released on UMD movies for the PSP, but their everywhere in Japan. Sony and Nintendo are just worried about the bad publicity and the parental groups.

Many of the "too violent" things are rumored to be things like ripping off an enemies balls, pulling out his eyes, violently beating them to death, visable suffering as the opponent dies, ect. And what sets all of this apart from games that also feature the same things like the Mortal Kombat games is that the killings are almost cartoony in the MK games. In the Manhunt games, they try to keep everything as real as possible, and now it'll cost them close to $1million to go back and edit the game.

TheNegation

07-04-2007 11:40 AM

The game was banned in Ireland by the censors board, what a crock of shit. I don't want the government making those kinda choices for me.BTW, didn't like the first manhuntor have any intention of buying this one, don't even own a playstation, it's not gonna stop me raising hell about this shit.

SteSteez

07-04-2007 08:27 PM

Exactly why i have stopped buying consoles made by sony/nintendo... their marketing demographic is families/young kids/mid teens... and alot of games i wanna play are for adults... which is why i bought a xbox 360... marketed towards adults bigtime the console will have anything on it.

dopesmoker

07-05-2007 01:06 PM

manhunt was a sweet game, sucks theyre gonna kiddy it up just to release it, maybe us pc gamers will get a bit extra.

Onganju

07-05-2007 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteSteez

Exactly why i have stopped buying consoles made by sony/nintendo... their marketing demographic is families/young kids/mid teens... and alot of games i wanna play are for adults... which is why i bought a xbox 360... marketed towards adults bigtime the console will have anything on it.

Not if a government agency or retailers decide to "ban" a title. Nintendo has long been know as a "family friendly" console, but even they have put out enough mature titles to entertain discerning adult gamers.

The whole thing that many gamers don't quite realize is that those who legislate are not people who grew up playing games. In a decade or two, issues like this will not be as applicably brought toward the forefront of knee-jerk political campaign like it is now. It's not a marketing scheme on the part of publishers either. A lot of that tends to back fire greatly if the publisher can not deliver on "the hype." Further, a small amount of media exposure at the expense of market shate is never anything a publisher with half a mind would willingly ask for.

The truth is, the ones in legislative positions are parents of current gamers now. Once those who grew up playing games get into office, the number of instances will lessen. As it is, Video Games are the "hot" new media format, and is going through the exact same demonization that radio, film, TV, comic books and music has already gone through. It is very easy to skapegoat something/someone whenever stuff hits the news, and stuff like this isn't anything really new.

What is continually upsetting to me is that Bills that make selling M rated games to minors a crime are continuously brought to both the State and Senate levels for consideration and ratification into law. To date: Michigan, Illinois and California (all supposedly "progressive" states) have all passed laws that have banned th sale of "M" rated games in some capacity or another, but so far the court systems have kept these laws from going into effect. There is currently a similar bill up for vote in the state of New York. If these laws were to go into effect, do you know how hard it is going to be in order to get rid of them? Multiple state law books are filled with obsolete, inane and ridiculous laws that have been around for over the past century. What I find even more upsetting is the fact that there is a large number of gamers who bitch about this sort of thing, but do nothing more about it.

My suggestion: Don't be "that guy." Keep yourself aware and make your voice known when issues like that come up to ballot. Join the Video Game Voters Network, and take a few minutes out of your day to let the politicians who make the false presumption that such actions can even be considered constitutional know that they are dead-f'n-wrong.

If you can post on a forum, you can write an email to these narrow-minded facists and let them know you - as a voter - won't allow that. I cannot stress that enough. Now, I'll get off my soapbox before I continue on.

SteSteez

07-06-2007 06:29 AM

Damn we got some videogame activist in here man :)

And yea it is legislative bodies that decide whether or not a game is suitable for retail however with enough pressure from commercials ectors they have been known to back down in the past... and whos got more power than Microsoft?

I just think alot of the activists who lobby against videogaming are very hypocritical in their ways as they avoid big budget hollywood films with far more gore and detail yet puruse agaisnt videogames and music.

They also regularly seem to be christians which is also hypocritical as sorry but i have read that bible and if that was made into a videogame it would be given a 18+ rating.